Time for another peek at our grandchildren living in Mozambique Africa. And coming Spring 2017 we will have our newest grandchild! Our oldest son and wife are expecting their first baby. We’re so excited.
I love this photo of Ezra looking so relaxed and happy and ready to carry on a conversation with you!!! The photo was taken off Skype.
This photo of beautiful Zoey was sent by her mom, taken in Mozambique. She’s growing so fast.
We visited a Minnesota State Park that we have not been to before. Minneopa State Park near Mankato has a lot to discover. It has a two tier waterfall with a drop of about 30’+ on the second tier. I didn’t know before we went but the word Minneopa comes from the Dakota language which means “water falling twice.” I like that! It is a beautiful waterfalls. Some trails take you down to the base of the falls. It was fun to explore although it was very crowded as there were many people out on a beautiful Saturday in November enjoying the unusually warm weather.
The park also has a bison herd. We did not see any on the drive along the fenced in area where they roam. However, the road took us to an old historic wind mill, Seppmann Mill, built in 1862 and completed in 1864, by a German immigrant for the purpose of grinding grain into flour. Originally it had cloth sails which, of course, no longer exist, but the base of the windmill made of stone is very impressive. The Seppmann Mill is on the U.S. Register of Historic Places.
Click here for more information.
It was a fun day making all these discoveries, in a “new to us” Minnesota State Park. On a side note, we saw a little boy who was getting scolded in sign language. It was clear what was happening and it was so interesting to watch as we walked by this silent exchange that “spoke” loudly.
My new glasses arrived…and I’m thrilled. After eye surgery in January, a different prescription, and deteriorating lenses, I wasn’t seeing very well out of my old glasses for several months. After struggling to pick out frames (always hard to do) I ordered them last week and picked them yesterday – less than a week later. Immediately when I put them on there was a noticeable difference! My vision is so sharp and clear. It is a gift to have access to good medical care and to be able to order new eye glasses and I don’t want to take it for granted. I am grateful.
Only one thing…I’m noticing some dust in the house…
I enjoy reflecting on the trail a conversation takes…where it begins and how it flows…A conversation this week took me down memory lane…
I was visiting with a woman at church and we were commenting on the unusually warm weather in Minnesota for this time of year, November. She mentioned she remembered the Armistice Day snowstorm on November 11, 1940. I asked her where she was that day and she said she was at Young-Quinlan Department store in downtown Minneapolis…she had caught the last streetcar home and she was grateful to get home safely that night.
I told her I have a memory from that store too. My aunt, who never had any children of her own, liked to take her nieces on special, one-on-one dates. This happened in the 60’s. She would often take us to the Young Quinlan store. Auntie Ag loved nice things and liked this specialty store – it was always special time. But what stands out most is the elevator (and my friend guessed that would be my memory.) There was an elevator operator who wore white gloves. She would open the elevator’s door and gate and let you on and off whatever floor you wanted. My aunt had no idea this would be my memory from our dates but they are sweet ones none-the-less.
The store went out of business in 1985 but I read online there is a Young-Quinlan store museum and it might be fun to go for a visit.
The building was designated as a local landmark by the Minneapolis Historic Preservation Commission in 1988 and is located on 9th and Nicollet.
Yesterday I left work a couple hours early to enjoy the unusual warm temperatures for this time of year. We decided to go for a bike ride and headed to the new section of the Cannon Valley Trail to start our ride. The sun was shining and the trail was smooth and there were several people out enjoying the 70* temperature in November, in Minnesota. It’s fun to see the landscape without the leaves on the trees although there are a few stunning trees still showing off their brilliant colors. We saw two deer along the trail. We reminisced about a ride we took in February, my first winter bike ride in Minnesota. Again, the weather was unusually warm and we were tooling around on our bikes in February. That’s a good bicycle season – for me. I know there are many folks biking all year ’round!
My dad was a carpenter and built our house in a “brand new neighborhood” in Northeast Minneapolis in 1953, the year I was born. Everyone in the neighborhood was new to the area and many lifelong friendships were formed. My mother and Diane’s mother (my recycle birthday card friend) was one of them. I wrote this poem when Darlene died in 2013. My mom died in 2009.
Back in the Fifties
When life was pretty good
In Northeast Minneapolis
Up sprang a new neighborhood.
Children gathered daily
Going outside to play
Fathers off to work
Moms at home to stay.
Friendships were forming
Because everyone was new
Some lasting fifty years or more
Wow – who knew???
Two special families
Lived across the street
Two special women
Destined to meet.
Raising up their children
Having driveway coffee breaks
Always checking on each other
Vacationing to many lakes.
Their daughters grew up
Becoming lasting friends
Sharing McKinley Street stories
No more playing pretend.
Marriages, then grand-kids
Time kept marching on
But playing Bridge and having lunch
Kept their friendship strong.
Four years ago God took the first
And now He’s taken the other
But memories will linger on
Loving memories of our mothers.
September 2013
Sunday’s sermon was about saints in the Bible that have gone before us, then we had an opportunity to light a candle for the saints and loved ones that have gone before us in our own lives. Pastor Abe reminded us that the saints were not perfect people and that the Bible is full of stories of imperfect people being used by God. He reminded us that God is faithful, he doesn’t give up, and he is in the business of redemption.
I lite a candle for both my parents and a very special aunt. Here is a poem I wrote about my mother shortly after she died in 2009. My father died in 1974 when I was 20 years old. I am saddened for the missed opportunity of getting to know him as an adult. I have not written a poem for my dad…maybe someday I will. He was a kind man.
Ruby Red
Red was her color
Ruby was her name
Never much recognition
Never much fame.
But she was a faithful mother,
A grandmother, a friend
Loved and cared by many
Generous to the end.
She surrounded herself with beauty
Both natural and man made
She had a green thumb for growing,
An eye for things that stayed.
From the house on McKinley
To the apartment at Meadowbrook
She kept her place beautiful
It was always fun to look.
Her fun sense of adventure
Took her on many fine trips
And hours of playing bridge
Kept her mind sharp and crisp.
Being with family and friends
Made her most content
She found joy in remembering
Those times were well spent.
So here’s to Ruby
Whose color was red
God blessed her life to 86
An active life she led.
March 2009
One lovely fall day we took the scenic drive down the Mississippi River along the Minnesota side and crossed over the river in Winona and headed north on the Wisconsin side. We stopped at the overlook in Alma and hiked in a park there. Next we stopped at Danzinger Vineyards and sipped ginger beer while sitting outside in the fall sunshine, overlooking the beautiful river valley, listening to live music playing in the background. We continued up the road north to Nelson’s Creamery where we ordered Rueben and Hot Ruby Sandwiches. An ice cream cone was the grand finale of all the good treats we had that day. The drive back during sunset was an added bonus to a wonderful time…trying to get snap shots of it all. 
This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
This morning I took a leisurely walk around the ponds in our neighborhood, which we affectionately call Pond One, Pond Two and Pond Three. I just finished my busiest week of the year for my job and it feels good to be done and move on. Canadian Geese are still hanging around Ponds Two and Three. The beauty of fall still lingering, the calm scene of geese floating on the water, their loud honking, the fresh air and exercise – it’s all very good.
The campus of St. Olaf College is very colorful this time of year. 
